Butter Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken

• 2 pounds chicken, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons garlic paste
• 1 - 2 teaspoons red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons lime/lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• Salt to taste

Sauce

• 4 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 1 green chili, chopped
• 1 2-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cloves
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek leaves
• 2 Tablespoons oil, divided
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt to taste

Directions

Wash and thoroughly pat dry the chicken and put it in a large non-reactive bowl. Add all the marinade ingredients and mix well to ensure all the chicken pieces are well coated. Cover and let the chicken marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.

When ready, heat about 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large wok or a pan. Transfer the marinated chicken along with all the marinade to the wok, on medium-high heat cook the chicken till all the liquid has dried up and the chicken is cooked and starts to get brown on the surface, 10-15 minutes. Remove to a clean plate.

In a large pan heat 1 Tablespoon oil and add green cardamoms, cloves, black peppercorns, bay leaf and cinnamon; sauté for 30-40 seconds. Add ginger and garlic paste, and stir fry for a minute or so. Add the cut tomatoes and chili along with the water. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low, let everything cook for 5-7 minutes or till the tomatoes are soft and start to breakdown. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.

Once the tomato mixture has cooled down, remove all the whole spices and discard. Pour into a blender along with the add tomato paste, sugar, red chili powder, salt, and dried fenugreek leaves, and blend until smooth.

Transfer the pureed tomatoes to a clean pan. Simmer 2-3 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in the butter. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for 5-7 minutes, or until you can see the oil bubbles start to show in the sauce. (If you feel sauce is too thick, add little water to get your preferred consistency. Generally this sauce should have consistency of thick pancake batter.)

Once the sauce is done, add the cooked chicken pieces and simmer another 5 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and serve.